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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 12, 2022)
Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, October 12, 2022 -- THREE The Heppner Gazette Times will print all letters to the Editor with the following criteria met: letters submitted to the newspaper will need to have the name of the sender along with a legible signature. We are also requesting that you provide your address and a phone number where you can be reached. The address and phone number will only be used for verification and will not be printed in the newspaper. Letters may not be libelous. The GT reserves the right to edit. The GT is not responsible for accuracy of statements made in letters. Any letters expressing thanks will be placed in the classifieds under “Card of Thanks” at a cost of $10. Email to editor@rapidserve.net or upload to Heppner.net. Morrow County Ethics? Vote yes for Greater Idaho By Doris Brosnan Apologies to Hunter Nichols! Hunter is, indeed, the HHS graduate so important to the EOU cross-country team, but his brother Trevor’s name incorrectly appeared here instead. Both young men are runners, and Trevor’s name appears in the high-school sports pages. But to Hunter go present accolades, for his outstanding contri- butions to Eastern Oregon University’s national standing in cross-country. Please, accept apologies! On Monday, Tom Wolff had been feeling much better at home for two days, after fourteen days of pain in one leg and his abdomen, six of those in hospitals. Tom praises the ER staff at Pioneer Memorial for the efficient, professional attention he needed while they determined the necessity of sending him on to Pendleton. An unusual result from a lower-back vertebra eventually explained Tom’s pain, and he can now look forward to physical therapy to bring back his pre-injury strength. Alan and Nancy Anderson of Ione returned on Sun- day from their six-day trip that took them to Las Vegas for Alan’s reunion with army comrades with whom he served in a cavalry unit for three years in Viet Nam. The men of the headquarters and three platoons involved have been holding the reunion since 2000, rotating the locations among the four entities. Damon and Carie Brosnan were in Heppner last weekend, their first visit since moving to Prineville in June. The couple accomplished several purposes while in town: Attended the HHS football homecoming game, at which they were able to visit briefly with several acquaintances; cut and hauled away some troublesome evergreen branches from Doris’s back yard and took some old tires to the transfer station; Damon took pictures of a HHS senior, with Carie as his assistant, while they en- joyed visiting with the student and his mom; and they ran to Hermiston to see Carie’s sisters before heading back home on Sunday. HHS’s homecoming week ended with a challenging 14-6 win over Weston-McEwen on the football field, with the presentation of the homecoming court at half- time and the dance that followed the game. This week is homecoming week at Ione High School, so more activities and royalty to come! On Saturday, German looks, not Irish green, dominat- ed the gathering at Gilliam and Bisbee when Murray’s first Oktoberfest drew a large crowd for entertainment, food and drink. One enthusiast, Claudia Hughes, reports that she hopes for a repeat. “…the German outfits, awesome young dancers (Corie Joe Lindsay is amazing!), Andrew Lindsay on electric guitar and with some Elvis renditions, …additional fun, great Murray’s evening!” Also on Saturday evening, the Ione Educational Foundation held its annual dinner and auction—its 20 th year! Betty Gray reports another year of good attendance and show of support for the foundation that helps to keep the charter school’s doors open. Seventy-five items were donated for the event, and bidders were liberal in their financial support. Please, contribute your reason to smile to the Good News column, so the many G-T readers can smile with you. Send your tidbit to dbrosnan123@gmail.com or call 541-223-1490. Here’s hoping that some good news comes to every- one reading this! Ione Community Church 470 E Main Street, Ione, Oregon Church School & Adult Study at 10:00 am Worship at 11:00 AM Father Thankachan Joseph St. Patrick Catholic Church Heppner Prayer and its importance Prayer, basically, is the lifting of our hearts and minds to God. We can also describe it as a dialogue with the Lord. Prayer may be described as the function of the heart and brain. It is to the soul what the nerves are to the body and mind. Prayer is a precious privilege. It is said that a prayerless human being is a powerless being. In prayer, God hears more than words—he listens to your heart. Sometimes God doesn’t give you what you think you want, not because you don’t deserve it, but because you deserve more. Nowadays, young minds might ask parents, “For what and whom should we pray?” The biggest suspense regarding prayer is that we know for whom we are pray- ing, but we never know the person who is praying for us. We may pray for anyone or for everyone and for anything. There are several examples in the Bible: Hezekiah prayed for a long life (2 Kings 20:2-6). Daniel prayed for help in the lion’s den (Daniel 6:10-11). King David prayed for mercy (Psalm 51). King Solomon prayed for prudence and wisdom (1 Kings 5-10). Abraham prayed for Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:22-32). God’s help is only a prayer away. He who kneels before God can stand before anyone. We may pray at any place and at any time. We have many examples in scripture: Jonah prayed when he was cast into the deep (Jonah 2:2-10). Peter prayed on the roof-top (Acts 9:38-40; 10: 9). Jairus prayed on the street for Christ to heal his daughter (Mark 5:21-23). King David prayed in a cave (1 Samuel 22:1; 23: 2, 4, 10-12). Mary prayed to Jesus at the wedding at Cana (John 2: 3). The good thief prayed when nailed to the cross (Luke 23:40-42). Jesus prayed before important occasions or decisions that he needed to make: the whole night on a mountain (Luke 6:12); before His baptism (Luke 3:21- 22); before the selection of the Twelve (Luke 6:12-13); during Transfiguration (Luke 9:28-29); in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36, 39, 42, 44). We are encouraged to persevere in prayer and faith, no matter what troubles and hurdles we have to surmount. Success only comes through repeated effort—profession- al success, sporting prowess, happy marriage and good parenting all require constant effort. Why are our prayers at times not answered? Some elements are needed in prayer: We need to forget about ourselves and pray for others. James tells us, “You pray for something and you do not get it because you pray with the wrong motive; you ask for things to spend on your passions” (James 4:3). Pray with faith that you will receive what you ask for in prayer. Again, he tells us, “If anyone of you is lacking in wisdom, let him ask God who gives it to everyone generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5-8). Jesus reminds us of another condition: He tells us of the need to forgive in order that our prayers be heard by Him. He tells us, “And when you stand to pray, forgive whatever you may hold against anyone, so that your Father in heaven may also forgive your sins” (Luke 11:25-26). Each time we call on Christ in prayer, especially in our wearied moments, we receive a fresh strength and assurance of His support. Jesus tells us, “Look, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my call and opens the door, I will come in to him and have supper with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20). Again, he assures us, “And I say to you, ‘Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you;’ For the one who asks, receives and the one who searches, finds and to him who knocks, the door will be opened’” (Luke 11:9-10). That is why Paul tells us, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing and give thanks to God at every moment. This is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). Prayer is more than “asking;” it becomes “listening.” We do a monologue, but we must listen to Him in reply. The purpose of prayer is to render homage, give praise, acknowledge one’s dependence, and ask for the gift of perseverance. Let us not lose hope but continue to trust in Jesus and allow him to guide our lives, leading us to the Father. “You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all you heart.” -Jeremiah 29:13 Join Us in the Search M U STAN HEPPNER BOOSTER HHS CLUB DINNER O O S T E R & AUCTION G This November voters in Wheeler and Morrow county will get the chance to weigh in on whether they want to explore changing their state governance from Oregon to Idaho. I urge everyone who feels the discussion needs to happen to vote yes and join the nine other eastern Oregon counties who have already voted to pursue moving the border. Greater Idaho is a movement based on the premise that people have the right to have govern- ment that they actually want and that they agree to. For too long in eastern Oregon, this has not been the case. Instead, eastern Oregon’s own state govern- ment has not shared their values, culture, economics or politics. And it’s not the government that eastern Oregonians have voted for. The conservative leaders that rural residents have been able to elect and send to Salem are increasingly a minority voice, and the effective political power of rural residents of the state is essentially zero. Even a “red wave” in November would likely only be a temporary reprieve, as the population centers in the Willamette Valley continue to outgrow the east side, and western Oregon can continue to push laws on eastern Oregon through bal- lot measures that a governor can’t stop. Changing the border would free eastern Oregonians from the poli- tics and policies of western Oregon and would put them under the governance of a state that does share their values. Instead of being political minorities, elect- ed leaders from eastern counties would be part of majorities with a real say in how we are governed. For nearly a generation western Oregon has had almost total control over state government, and in- creasingly, their values are opposed to the values of most eastern Oregonians. If eastern Oregonians want to preserve their traditional way of life, the best long- term solution is to redraw the Oregon/Idaho border and join a state that more closely shares their values and culture. Vote yes for moving the border. Matt McCaw Powell Butte, OR Good News Only Spiritually Speaking B We, the citizens of Morrow County, have re- cently been made aware of the seamy underbelly of our local political scene. At a public meeting on March 16, when the County Commission was deciding how to distribute Morrow County’s $11+ million gift from Amazon, Commis- sioner Doherty went on a verbal tirade directed at in- dividuals and businesses he blamed for his not receiv- ing an appointment to the Oregon Energy Facility Sit- ing Council (EFSC). One of them was Amazon. Does he value his own political aspirations more highly than industrial develop- ment that would create great paying jobs in Mor- row County? (By the way, you won’t find that in the meeting minutes, but there were plenty of witnesses.) He has also attempted to make political hay of the Port’s nitrate violations by seeking increased state and federal intervention. However, he ignored the fact that the county has had high nitrate levels (easily remedied by putting filters on rural domestic water supplies) for decades and increased regulation could have devastating impacts on small agribusinesses and farms that run cattle or use nitrogen-based fertilizers in the county, while claiming to be looking out for our best interests. Within a few days of Commissioner Doherty being publicly called out over agriculture’s risk from the nitrate issue, the Ore- gonian/OregonLive pub- lished the first of a series of articles discussing Am- azon’s presence in Morrow County. Those articles fo- cused on four individuals serving in positions with influence over tax breaks for Amazon while also negotiating contracts for Windwave to provide fiber optic services to Amazon. These same people partic- ipated in Inland Develop- ment’s (non-profit owner of Windwave) decision to reduce their risk exposure by selling Windwave. Then they privately purchased Windwave with financing directly provided by Inland, effectively limiting their own risk and leaving it on Inland’s books. While that is apparently not illegal, it certainly calls those indi- viduals’ ethics into ques- tion. I hope they recognize that their self-dealing has compromised their abili- ty to continue serving as public servants and do the right thing. This Oregonian/Or- egonLive series has now spurred the state to recon- sider how enterprise zones, like the CREZ, operate. Because of the lack of ac- countability and potential self-dealing by our elected officials, local communities across the state may now have decreased opportu- nities to use their taxing authority to attract indus- try and jobs to their com- munities. Coincidentally, Commissioner Doherty was a quoted source for these articles. There’s noth- ing like shining a light on someone else’s bad behav- ior to make your own fade into the background. But, once again, he failed to think about the larger con- sequences of his actions. If given the opportunity to vote to recall Commis- sioner Doherty, I ask you to consider that he appears to be more concerned about his own political future than he is about local farms and businesses or economic development opportunities for Morrow County. Then, think about what you would hope the ethics of Morrow County’s leaders would reflect, and tell him “No thank you.” Let’s start cleaning this mess up! Lisa Rietmann Ione, OR Good News Only by Doris Brosnan S ~ Letters to the Editor ~ Saturday, October 22nd Gilliam & Bisbee Building D oors open at 5:00 Dinner at 6:00 Live Auction: 7:00 STEAK DINNER $20/person SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE! Silent & Live Auction The Card Game - Raf f l e Heads & Tails Game Please come out and Support the Mustangs!
